Third Time Lucky
by haletheroses
Summary: A one shot about one man's search for true love and a successful relationship. Read and review!


He first met Alice Cullen at a bar. She was short, with sleek black hair that did a flippity thing at the ends, small, sharp features and a bubbly, extroverted personality. They had an immediate rapport and were soon going out, Alice taking him to this party and that. He came along willingly, smiling inside at this Lilliputian creature bossing him around, telling him what to wear and where to go; and he liked the way she brought his more social self away from his worn books. They were to go to his parents' together for spring break, but her grandmother died, and with a sad farewell, they parted at the airport; with many promises to keep in touch and lots of "I'll miss you's". She came back two weeks later, subdued and quiet, unlike her usual cheerful persona. After two days of her being back she confessed to him that she'd met someone, and though she hadn't given in to temptation; she had realized she wanted to break up amicably with him. He agreed, and their relationship went towards being more like a brother-sister one. They were close knit and the best of friends, and Alice kept on setting him up with blind dates, although not without protests on his part.

Two months later, he met Rosalie Hale at a concert. She was tall, blond, beautiful, and was studying for a degree in engineering. She snubbed him at first sight, taking him for one of the many men who tried to hit on her every day. He reacted indifferently, and intrigued, she followed him to his car. They got together a week after that incident, and made a fiery pair. Rosalie got on his nerves, and vice versa, and after an angry, passionate fight, they always made up equally passionately. Their relationship seemed to be going somewhere permanent despite the frequent disagreements, and everybody agreed they made quite the stunning pair. Almost a year later, he was going to propose to her on the anniversary of the day they first met, when she came bursting in and told him she was leaving. Shocked, heartbroken, and angry, he could do nothing more than just stand there and watch her pack up her stuff from their apartment. Alice went on long tirades about her, weeks after she was gone from his life, and he retreated into his shell that _she _had helped him break out of. Three months after their break up, she appeared at his door with red eyes and explained everything to him. She had met a man, and torn between the instant attraction she felt and her commitment to him, she had succumbed to the distraction. However, the day she left him, Alice had called her and screamed at her about how he was going to propose to her, and how he was becoming hollow. Plagued by the guilt and egged on by her new boyfriend, she finally decided to come clean and apologize. After a lot of deliberating, he gave in and they were on friendly terms again. Alice succumbed to her soon too, and they became the best of buddies.

By that time, he had all but given up on ever finding true love. He was not a hopeless romantic, although he did believe that one day he'd meet someone special, who would be his other half, a notion hammered into him by his grandma and mother. For little over a year he stayed single, working as a part time teacher and also as a librarian. He gazed with interest at the books people checked out, hoping to get a clue into their character. Although he rarely ever looked at them face to face and had a conversation, he liked to make up stories about their lives. His particular favorite was a young girl who regularly checked out a huge amount of books, all pretty near his own personal choices. He never dared to look up at her face, preferring to keep silent and check out her books without as much as a smile. One day though, she made the first move. She asked him about some book or the other, but all that was forgotten when they looked at each other. She gasped, and something about her long straight brown hair, pale face, and deep brown eyes drew him in. They stuttered and mumbled and blushed and smiled awkwardly at each other for more than a month but when they finally got the courage to ask each other out, they clicked like two pieces of a puzzle. Their relationship moved slowly but steadily, and as their trust grew in each other, his walls began to drop. It took Rosalie some time to adjust to the new presence in his life, and even though Alice accepted her easily with open arms, Rosalie was frigid and distant, but once she saw that they both were meant for each other, she softened up. Time flew by when they were together, which was soon more often than not, and they were lost in each other in wide eyed love. Their relationship lasted longer than both Alice and Rosalie's time with him combined. It took them a fair amount of time before they confessed their love for each other, but it was the most exhilarating, anticipatory moment of his life when he said to her, "I love you, Bella," while waiting eagerly for her answer.

His life was complete when four words slipped out of her mouth, "I love you, Edward."

**This one shot was a spur of the moment decision, and I wrote it up in an hour. Hope you guys enjoyed it! Leave some comments behind for me :) **


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